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Uriah Heep Wiki Information
This article is about the Dickens character. For the musical band of the same name, see Uriah Heep (band).
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Uriah Heep
is a fictional character created by Charles Dickens in his novel David Copperfield
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The character is notable for his cloying humility, obsequiousness, and general insincerity. His references to David Copperfield as “Master Copperfield” are repeated so often that they quickly seem insincere. He is the central antagonist of the later part of the book. David first meets the 15-year-old Heep when he is living with Mr. Wickfield and his daughter Agnes. Uriah has been employed as clerk to Wickfield for four years, since he was eleven. Uriah's father, who instilled him with the need to be humble, died when Uriah was ten, and for the first part of the novel he lives alone with his mother in their "umble abode". Uriah is repeatedly mentioned as ugly and repulsive, even in his youth - tall, lank and pale with red hair and lashless eyes. Dickens negatively emphasizes Uriah's movements as well, described as jerking and writhing; this leads many literary scholars to believe Dickens is describing a form of dystonia, a muscular disorder, to increase Uriah's snakelike character. Uriah explains in another part of the book that his ambition and greed are fueled by resentment from the double-standard of his schooling and from his treatment as a child, and by encouragement from his parents. As Uriah works for Wickfield for the next five or so years, he teaches himself law at night, and by blackmailing Mr. Wickfield, gains control over his business.
He eventually succeeds in having himself made a full partner in the business. His eventual ambition is to marry Agnes and gain control of the Wickfield fortune. Like most of Dickens’s villains, greed is his main motivation. Heep is eventually stymied by Mr. Micawber and Tommy Traddles, with help from David and Agnes. Once his fraud and treachery are unmasked, he persists in hounding Micawber and Copperfield. Towards the end of the novel, he is last seen in Mr. Creakle’s prison where we find that he has returned to his “humble” ways, and puts himself forward as a model prisoner. He is said to be sentenced for transportation for life, which likely means he will eventually be sent to the penal colony Australia.
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URIAH HEEP TICKETS
EVENT | DATE | AVAILABILITY |
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Uriah Heep & Saxon Tickets 4/23 | Apr 23, 2024 Tue, 7:30 PM | | Uriah Heep & Saxon Tickets 4/24 | Apr 24, 2024 Wed, 8:00 PM | | Uriah Heep & Saxon Tickets 4/25 | Apr 25, 2024 Thu, 7:30 PM | | Uriah Heep & Saxon Tickets 4/27 | Apr 27, 2024 Sat, 8:00 PM | | Uriah Heep & Saxon Tickets 4/28 | Apr 28, 2024 Sun, 7:00 PM | |
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Real Life Basis
Much of David Copperfield is autobiographical and some scholars [1] [2] believe Heep's mannerisms and physical attributes to be based on Hans Christian Andersen whom Dickens met shortly before writing the novel.
Uriah Heep's schemes and behavior are more likely based on Thomas Powell [3], employer to a friend of Dickens, Thomas Chapman. Powell "ingratiated himself into the Dickens household" and eventually was uncovered as a forger and a thief, having embezzled 10000 pounds from his employer. He later verbally attacked Dickens in pamphlets, calling particular attention to his class background. He was later deemed a lunatic.
Other Notes
The characteristics of grasping manipulation and insincerity can lead to calling a person “a Uriah Heep” as Lyndon Johnson is called in Robert Caro’s biography and Seymore Fleming from the play “Babes in Arms”.
On screen the character has been played by, amongst others, Roland Young (1935), Colin Jeavons (1966), Ron Moody (1970), Martin Jarvis (1974), Paul Brightwell (1986), Nicholas Lyndhurst (1999), and Frank MacCusker (2000). In the upcoming 2009 film, he will be played by Simon Pegg [4].
The British rock band Uriah Heep is named after the character [5].
All Wikipedia content is licensed under the GNU Free Document License or is otherwise used here in compliance with the Copyright Act
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